The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 05 – Sisters of St Agatha

  

Merionwen Strong, Parse Sacrod, Terrel Vorton, Shiyne, and Asti Alegionaris, were sitting in a café across the plaza from where the Sisters of St Agnes were performing the healing, when Visitor Parham (Bagg) walked in and sat down with them.

He had just returned from the enclave where he had left Trebreh, Xandra, Ale and Wisma in safety, he didn’t want them to get mixed up in one of their adventures.

 

“We need an old crock” Merionwen said

“What?” Bagg retorted

“We need an old crock” Merri repeated and Bagg looked at her blankly while everyone else looked grave, with the exception of Shiyne, who knew exactly what Merri was doing, and struggled to suppress a laugh.

“Well we can’t queue up to see the healing Sisters if you haven’t got an ailment, and the more obvious the better” she explained

“Damn” exclaimed Lyris

“There’s one” said Asti excitedly

“Hold on Princess” Parse said “We can’t just grab one at random and kidnap them”

“Trust me” she said and leapt up “We’re not going to use her exactly”

“Oh God we’ll all get done by the prefects for kidnapping” Bagg said and put his head in his hands.

About ten minutes later Asti returned with an old woman and Zerrad Skeet walked in behind them.

“Asti you can’t...” Bagg began

“Don’t worry Bagg its Malena” Asti said and laughed “Merri sent Lyris to get her”

“So, who is manning the Tornado?” he asked

“Pulsat and Vanzyl” she replied

 

Malena Endia was from Obgaron Prime in the Alandis system, which was now deep in the heart of the Mehreen Empire, though she, like many of her species fled into Legion territory after their world was invaded, but many of her kind died after the invasion and she wasn’t sure exactly how many were left because they weren’t easily recognized as they were a race of shape shifters.

She could change shape at will, but she could only transform into a being she had touched, only the briefest moment of contact was required and then it was in her memory banks and could be recalled whenever required.

She could also manipulate that memory and add or subtract from it for example in her everyday life she chose to take the form of a 27 year old human whom she met on a remote mining colony when she first entered Legion space, but she chose to be the human girl and wear clothes on that form but it wasn’t necessary and that afternoon for the mission she chose to simulate the old ladies clothes, partly in case she needed to shift, it would have looked very odd indeed if she needed to shapeshift into a man and he was then wearing girls clothes.

The second reason was that she wanted it to appear that she was adorned with jewelry but when the thief tried to steal it she would know instantly and be able to react.

 

The Sisters of St Agatha were not an ancient order but her life predated Christianity.

Agatha was born on Earth, on the Island of Sicily, in 231 BC and belonged to a rich, important family but she dedicated her life to God as a young person, and resisted both marriage and sex, making a vow of virginity.

Young, beautiful and rich she rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman prefect, Quintianus, who thought he could force her to turn away from her vow and force her to marry him, but his persistent proposals were consistently spurned by Agatha who lived a life dedicated to God, so Quintianus, knowing she was a Christian during the persecution of her faith by Emperor Decius, had her arrested and brought before him, where he tried to profit by Agatha's sanctity.

He expected her to give in to his demands when she was faced with torture and possible death, but she simply reaffirmed her belief in God by praying:

“Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil”

She prayed for courage with tears falling from her eyes but to force her to change her mind, Quintianus sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel, and had her imprisoned there, but Agatha never lost her confidence in God, even though she suffered a month of rape, assault, and efforts to get her to abandon her vow to God and go against her virtue.

Quintianus sent for her again, argued, and threatened, but once again Agatha refused his advances, so he had her imprisoned and had her tortured

She was stretched on a rack, torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, and whipped and she even had her breasts cut off, then after further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt at the stake, but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds, but later she died in prison aged just twenty and following her martyrdom she was venerated as a Saint.

The Sisters adopted Agatha as their patron Saint as they were already healers, though more akin to nurses, but then like the Visitors they took to the stars and thrived.

 

Terrell Vorton described them as “charlatans”, but they didn’t do what they did for financial gain, they were essentially good, and they accepted no payment for their healing, other than faith.

 

Which was why they were so popular with the pilgrims and why there was a long queue to get in to see them, and in the queue were Malena, disguised as an old frail woman and she was flanked by Bagg and Terrell Vorton.

The former was a tall and disproportionately thin figure, wearing his Visitor regalia, of a full length pale blue robe tied at the waist with a royal blue cord and a full length dark blue leather jerkin over the top, and he carried a simple rough-hewn staff which was undecorated but for a carved cruciform relief a few inches from the top, and the latter was a small stout Sciberran Healer, standing 5 foot 5, though still striking in appearance with chalk white skin, short hair of midnight blue and violet eyes.

 

If they were right about the healers, and it was by no means certain that they were, they had no idea how many of the Sisters were involved in the thefts, which was why Malena had two escorts, Bagg had proved himself to be very handy in a scrap, and Terrell had about his person an assortment of pharmaceutical weapons.

One of the concerns however was communication, as the healing chamber was a huge faraday cage preventing any radio waves entering or leaving.

But the crew of the Tornado didn’t need communicators as they had Shiyne and she was a telepath.

All of the Vann were telepaths, by varying degrees, and many of them left their home world at some point to use their gifts to earn a wage.

Those at the zenith of their talents work as corporate negotiators or in the justice systems of the Legion. 

Shiyne was a Vann with mid-range capabilities and she could read most species to some extent, her skills were limited with the more sophisticated or complex brains, lesser minds were easier for her to explore, but she was more than a match for a faraday cage, so she positioned herself on the plaza with a good view of the edifice.

There was only one way in and one way out, so the rest of the crew took up station, far enough away to be able to see someone fleeing but close enough to charge the entrance if necessary.     

 

When Malena and escorts reached the front, they waited patiently until the curtain opened and a Sister stepped through.

And after a traditional Christian greeting they were ushered inside St Agatha’s chamber and amazingly the three of them felt immediately at peace, after a few paces Terrell and Bagg were told to stay and one of the Sisters took Malena by the hands and led her further and began chanting, but she could still hear Shiyne’s reassuring voice in her head and then Mal was surrounded by another five sisters who were feverish praying, and then all of a sudden she felt a hand grasping at what the thief believed was a bracelet.

Shiyne was instantly aware and signaled the rest of the crew to be on their guard.

The moment that Malena felt the thief’s touch she grabbed the arm and dragged the errant Sister from the pack towards Terrell who had already reacted and had an injector in his hand and took two steps forward and dispatched her with a jab to the neck and she crumpled to the floor.

Now if what occurred had surprised the Sister then what happened next surprised everyone else because the Sister dressed in traditional white habit with the face of a human, shimmered and faded to be replaced by a very different Mercurial form of liquid silver glass.

“My God she’s Obgaron” Malena said and sunk to her knees, as did the other sisters, and then rest of the Tornado crew appeared.

“I’ll get the Prefects” Parse said

“No, please, not yet” Malena pleaded “I need to talk to her first”

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 04 – Crime Wave

 

While Bagg, Wisma, Parse and Merri went to the Prefects office to report the loss of her bracelet the remainder of the group were sitting at a table in a restaurant called the Golgothan Orchid and had finished eating by the time they returned.

“You’ve been a long time” Trebreh said to his brother

“It was very busy” he replied

“Were they any help?” Xandra asked

“None whatsoever” Merri retorted curtly

“Other than pointing out that it was more likely to have been stolen than lost because there have been numerous thefts and robberies” Parse explained “But without knowing where it was taken there isn’t much they can do about it”

 

Pulsat Rad sat very quietly while the others spoke as he had an idea as to where the bracelet may have been stolen, this was unusual as it was normally his friend Vanzyl who had the ideas and Pulsat who relayed them to the others, because he could understand every tone and toot that Vanzyl uttered, as if it were in his own tongue, whereas no one else could.

But he was Prinsloovian and it was common place for his species, and there were very few races he had met on his travels that he couldn’t understand, although he couldn’t speak back to most of them in their language, but he nonetheless understood every word that they spoke, and when he was in crowded places all he could hear was other people’s small talk, which he found quite annoying after a while, but while he had been on Marikya he had noticed a theme and actually tuned in to the chatter when he heard similar tales, and they were all in regard to thefts, but now Wisma had been robbed his eavesdropping had taken on a new significance.

 

Pulsat turned to his friend and spoke quietly to him of what he suspected and Vanzyl responded noisily in clicks, whirls and whistles, and everyone turned towards the engineers in response and fell silent, and Pulsat looked at the expectant faces, and then clicks and whirls began to emanate from Vanzyl which were clearly directed at Pulsat.

“Ok I say it” he said, and more clicks and whirls followed

“I say, I say” Pulsat retorted and to the assemble group he said

“I know where”

“Vanzyl knows where the robbery happened?” Merri asked and more clicks.

“He not know” Pulsat replied and her shoulders slumped then he added

“I know where”

Merri straightened up in response and Pulsat explained, in his stuttering style, and in detail, what he had heard,

 

The Prefects had confirmed that a large number of people had had either their pockets picked, or had valuables stolen while visiting the Holy Town.

But with the snippets of conversation that Pulsat had overheard, he had internally collated certain information, such as the location the theft was discovered, places visited prior to the discovery and the place where they were 100 percent sure they still had the stolen item, and with that information he had managed to isolate the crime to a certain area of the town, and the fact that they had all visited the Sisters of Saint Agatha, who were faith healers.

“That can’t be” Bagg said “it can be nothing more than an anomaly”

“I agree” his brother Trebreh added

“That’s where the evidence points” Merri pointed out

“Well I’ve always thought them to be charlatans” Terrel said “but not thieves”

While they were deliberating the likelihood of their involvement an elderly man and woman entered the restaurant and the latter was in tears.

“Is everything alright?” Xandra asked in a comforting tone as she took hold of the woman’s hand who then stopped crying and then a moment later she smiled.

 

The woman was completely relaxed by Xandra’s empathetic persona and was soon relating the cause of her former distress.

She had decided to visit the Sisters of St Agatha as she had been suffering of late with a touch of arthritis in her wrists.

She had paid her money and taken her turn in the queue and when she entered St Agatha’s chamber she felt immediately at peace.

Then one of the Sisters took her by the hands and began chanting and then she was surrounded by another five who were feverishly praying, and then all of a sudden, she was pain free and she was led out where she was met by her husband and within minutes of leaving the Sisters she noticed her bag was missing.

 

“So, if she wasn’t lying….”  Parse began after the couple had left

“She definitely wasn’t lying” Shiyne said

“Did you scan her then?” Lyris asked

“I did and every word she said was true” she replied “Apart from the arthritis, her aliment is much more severe than that and she hasn’t told her husband”

Bagg was cross with himself for dismissing the Sisters, Pulsat’s analysis had indicated St Agatha’s chamber was significant, but he had hoped it was just an anomaly, but he was wrong.

When he was a boy back on Mars his grandfather used to read old classic stories to him and one of his favourite’s was Conan Doyle, and as he sat in the restaurant he recalled there was an old Sherlock Holmes axiom which went

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”

But he had allowed himself to be blinded by his inherent faith in human nature. 

“So, it must be one or more of the Sisters” Bagg surmised, and everyone agreed.

“Well it looks like you were right Pulsat” Merri said, and everyone congratulated him.

“Well done Pulsat” Bagg said and Vanzyl uttered a soft whistle like a plaintive flute and patted his friend on the back proudly.

 

“So, what do we do now?” Bagg asked

“We should tell the Prefects all we know” Xandra suggested

“They won’t act on it” Parse Sacrod pointed out “they’re stretched too thin”

“So, it’s down to us then” Asti mused “but what do we do?”

“Planning is Merri’s thing” Lyris said

“Ok then let’s put our heads together and plan another adventurous little diversion” she said

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 03 – Among the Pilgrims

 

The Eastertide festival on Marikya lasted for five days with the greatest emphasise on the Holy Days but there were also a variety of entertainments to distract the pilgrims, and merchants aplenty hoping to profit from the pilgrims by tempting them to part with some of their money in exchange for some memento of their trip.

The other group that turned a healthy profit at Festival times were the Inn Keepers, Lodge Owners and Hoteliers who charged premium rates, but despite the profiteering on accommodation there was never anywhere to stay, unless you were a Visitor of high esteem such as Bagg’s brother Trebreh and then you were invited to stay at the Visitor’s Presbytery Enclave, where the clergy could stay along with “suitable” guests, and there was always space.

When not housing Pilgrims for the Festival it was a retreat for weary, ailing or retired Clergy.

So Trebreh, his wife Xandra and her brother Ale, Bagg and Wisma along with Duff Tarver and his wife Chani would be staying in the enclave, while the rest of the Tornado crew would return to the Tornado each night, as they were all taking it in turns to man the ship anyway, which was only fair.

 

Merionwen took the first watch, though she was more intent on watching her Gouveian lover Parse Sacrod, who she called Beefy, as he was huge in stature, standing 6 foot 8 high, broad and powerfully built, with short curly hair the colour of burnished steel, ivory skin and mercury coloured eyes, he was a former Legionnaire of the Royal Guard of Gouveia and she loved every inch of him.

For her part she was in her early thirties and best described as statuesque, tall, straight backed, proud and was blessed with an abundance of red hair that trailed behind her like a mane and penetrating green eyes to stare you down with, and overall she cut a striking figure and along with her appearance went her forthright, volatile and feisty personality.

She was owner and Captain of the Tornado, which technically belonged to the Garangon mining company, but as they went out of business when they inadvertently destroyed the moon they were mining, Merionwen’s father Ben kept the Tornado in lieu of payment and it passed to her on his death.

 

Merri and Parse had become inseparable, and always spent the long watches on the flight deck together, but that was normally about as close as they got to be alone, so to have the ship all to themselves was something of a novelty, so they made sure that they made the best use of their “alone time”.

But alas all good thing must come to an end, and in their case, it was when Lyris Skeet’s voice came over the comms to say that the Spider Hawk was preparing to dock.

 

There were two docking rings on the Tornado to facilitate transfers to and from the freighter while in space, one in the belly below the loading bay and the other was amidships above the cargo bays which was also the mooring point for shuttles or ancillary craft.

Merri had the Tornado holding in a stationary orbit so Lyris used his thrusters to steady the Spider Hawk as he maneuvered into position and locked on to the upper docking ring.

“There goes our “Alone time”” Merri said and gave Parse one last lingering kiss.

 

Apart from Merri, the only other survivors from her father’s crew were her co-pilot and navigator, Malena Endia and Shiyne, the latter being that rare commodity in any crew, someone who could and would perform any task required of them without question, but her real strength was in the role of negotiator and as an eternal optimist.

 

The next day it was the turn of Malena Endia and Zerrad Skeet to crew the Tornado, so they could have some private time which they had been looking forward to.

Similarly, the diminutive Princess Asti with her short platinum hair, ivory skin and silver eyes, would have preferred to keep her six-foot-tall, broad and muscular, black haired, dark eyed boyfriend, Lyris Skeet, all to herself, but it wasn’t their turn.

 

The following day would be Shiyne and Terrell Vorton, but they just wanted to be wherever the other was, such was the depth of their love, though they were an odd couple.

They were both the same height but that was the only thing they had in common, he was older than her by 6 years and was stoutly built, while she was slim, his skin was of chalk white and hers was cerise, his eyes were violet, Shiyne’s were purple and Terrell’s hair was midnight blue and she was bald, the other difference was that he was very quiet and she would often chatter incessantly.

 

Day four would be Pulsat Rad and Vanzyl, but they would spend their time doing routine maintenance and happily play with their engines and day 5 would be when Asti got to do some far from routine manoeuvres while she put Lyris through his paces.

 

So, Malena watched as the Spider Hawk headed towards the surface and then she kissed Zerrad passionately.

Physically he and his brother were very similar and only blonde hair and grey eyes differed from his older dark-haired brother, and his lover Malena was a tall slim brunette, with olive skin and hazel eyes, at least that was how she appeared, her true form was more mercurial, but Zerrad loved her in any form.

 

By day five everything was going well, on board the Tornado as Asti had finally got Lyris alone, and on the surface, everyone was enjoying the Festival and its associated entertainments but were nonetheless conscious that their holiday was almost over but were determined to enjoy it to the last minute.

But just as they were going to find somewhere to eat Wisma made a discovery that made her dissolve into tears.

It was not normal behaviour for her as she was made of harder stuff than that but reduced to tears she was, and it took Bagg a full ten minutes to calm her down and find out what had upset her so much.

When she had calmed down to such an extent that she could speak she told Bagg that her bracelet was gone and then she cried again.

 

The bracelet was made of Androsin Gold with an intricate design inlaid with platinum and was a gift from Bagg to mark their first year together as a couple, and losing it was devastating for her.      

“When do you remember having it last?” Bagg asked and she furrowed her brow as she thought about it and finally said

“No more than an hour ago”

So, they retraced their steps in the hope of finding it, but to no avail.

“I think we should report it to the Prefects” Parse said “In case it’s been handed in”

So Bagg, Wisma, Parse and Merri went to the Prefects office and the others went into the restaurant and secured a table.

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 02 – Marikya

 

Marikya was one of the moons of Eirkos and was largely Arboreal but also had extensive ranges of Sandstone Mountains in which the early settlers carved out rudimentary living areas but over the centuries their endeavor’s had become much grander and more sophisticated but their most noteworthy creation was the spectacular Temple to Christ Our Lord, sculpted from the highest peak in the southern range, which was so renowned and highly regarded that it attracted pilgrims from across Legion Space and was one of the most popular locations to celebrate Eastertide.

 

Visitors were a Christian sect who took to the stars with the first migrants to visit new worlds, spreading the word while seeking enlightenment, and they had established Visitor enclaves in every corner of the known universe, they even thrived in Mehreen space and they were the least spiritual beings to ever draw breath.

The difference between Visitors and the established Christian Church on earth was its spontaneity, they didn’t wait until Sunday to worship, they did it wherever and whenever it was desired, and it didn’t need to happen in a church, Visitors worshipped everywhere, but that didn’t prevent them from worshipping in Churches as well or have larger more organised events, they were still Christians and therefore there was still a Christian calendar to follow, and the major festivals were still marked with the same reverence and the one the Tornado was heading towards was the Eastertide Festival on Marikya, which had lost none of its significance to the Visitors in the centuries since they left earth.

 

It wasn’t a long trip from Eirkos to Marikya especially for the Tornado, which wasn’t a huge ship as freighters go, but pound for pound the Tempests had the highest freight to fuel ratio yield of their class.

The front section comprised of a sizable pressurized hold for large freight accessed via a front loading ramp, above which was the flight deck, living and sleeping quarters, mess facilities and bath rooms, at the rear was the main propulsion and amidships were the universal pod bays, which allowed for a mixed cargo option, which allowed for quick inspection and loading, although sometimes pods were sealed which meant it was either very valuable or very illegal, either way Merri didn’t mind and transporting sealed cargo paid much much better.

The Tornado always flew with at least one pod but then that was because it was where they stowed their gear and where the hidden compartments could be found, or not, which was where they hid the contraband, or even fugitives when necessary, but not so much in recent years. 

 

It had been more than three years since the Tornado, reached the Eikon Cluster with a full complement aboard, funds in the coffers and three pods of Thermalium mineral ore for delivery to Eikon Major, and they had prospered greatly in the system known as the Eikon Cluster, so called due to the high number of M class planets and moons in the Eikon solar system, and they quickly found an abundance of work with Golbolt Interstellar, based on the moon Soman.

The main reason for that was that the Operations Manager was Oshwin Lemik and he fought against the Legion in the Shaxson War with the Skeet brothers, they as pilots and Oshwin as Logistics Commander.

From the moment they were reacquainted, the Tornado got as much work as they wanted and regularly ran between Eikon Major and Minor, Eirkos and its moons, Soman, Rekar and Marikya, and neighbouring planet’s, Achrem and Zenden as well as Zenden’s moon, Linden, plus a host of other smaller moons and asteroids.

 

Since they had been in the Eikon Cluster they had familiarized themselves with the planets and moons they visited and had cultivated great friendships along the way, so whatever part of the system they were in they always knew where to go where they would be welcomed, and they could relax and enjoy their down time.

Also, in their time in the Cluster they had earned the respect and gratitude of Supreme Commander Emad Salmin of the Legion Aeronautica for the whole of the Eikon Cluster and those aboard the Tornado, and their friends and allies felt the weight of his gratitude, and they had made many friends, as well as a number of enemies.

But they weren’t expecting any adventures or dramas on that particular trip.

 

Because it was a heavily forested landscape separated by Sandstone Mountains, there weren’t enough spaces on the landing field on the outskirts of the capital, Livingstone, where the festival was being held, for all of the pilgrims vessels, so it was necessary for the Tornado to remain in orbit and for Lyris Skeet to ferry everyone down to the surface in the Spider Hawk, which he managed to do in two trips.

With the ship in orbit Merionwen and Parse stayed aboard the Tornado to man it in the event of an emergency, for which they volunteered so they could enjoy a bit of “alone” time.

 

They would of course be relieved, but in her absence, Malena was in charge of the group while they were on the surface, and everyone knew to listen to her because she had pointed out that if they didn’t she would transform into an Askandian dragon dog, oozing deadly poisonous secretions, and deal with them.

 

They all knew she could transform, because Malena Endia

was from Obgaron Prime in the Alandis system, which was now deep in the heart of the Mehreen Empire, though she, like many of her species fled into Legion territory after their world was invaded, but many of her kind died after the invasion and she wasn’t sure exactly how many were left because they weren’t easily recognized as they were a race of shape shifters.

The Mehreen were a brutal regime who conquered world after world without warning, either for tactical and strategic reasons or for want of the planet’s resources, but in the case of Obgaron Prime there was no strategic value and it was poor in minerals and Orr, their destruction was for a very different reason altogether, fear.  

The mighty Mehreen Empress feared the Obgaron because of a long-held prophecy that the Empire would be brought down by beings who could transform themselves into Mehreen High Councillor’s and seize power unnoticed, so they thought those beings were shape shifters, and they slaughtered everyone they could lay their hands on, without mercy.

 

The Obgaron were a peaceful insular people who had had minimal exposure to the universe outside their own system so the majority of the inhabitants weren’t fearful of an impending invasion. 

Malena however was not among them and fled, stowing away on a deep space exploration vessel with a few of her like-minded people and slipped through the Mehreen net by transforming.

Though she could change form at will she could only transform into a being she had touched.

Only the briefest moment of contact was required and then it was in her memory banks and could be recalled whenever required.

But that need to touch a subject in order to shift cost many more lives during the invasion among the Obgaronian’s who had no suitable form to shift into to when the time came, in order to evade the Mehreen hordes.

The form Malena took was that of a 27-year-old human whom she met on a remote mining colony when she first entered Legion space, that was more than 20 years earlier and she still looked exactly the same.

It was on another mining planet 12 months later that she first met Merionwen’s father Ben Strong and joined his crew aboard the Tornado where she quickly proved herself to be invaluable, firstly as just one of the crew but she soon showed a natural gift for navigating and she also excelled as a nanny to 9-year-old Merri.   

 

Had her crew mates taken the time to consider her threat then it would have dawned on them that she couldn’t have transformed into an Askandian dragon dog, as she couldn’t have touched one without succumbing to the deadly oozing poisonous secretions, but of the group only Shiyne was aware of that fact, but then she was a Vann telepath, but the rest didn’t, so the threat was enough to get everyone to toe the line.

 

The Tornado Sojourns (4) – Chapter 01 – All Aboard

The Tempest Class Freighter, Tornado, was powered by 4 Plasma Turbine Pyroclast Engines, which allowed for a very quick turn of speed once airborne, and four vertical take-off jumper engines, whose purpose is self-explanatory, they could also be used independently to provide auxiliary power on board while they were on the surface for periods when the solar converters were inadequate, or they were on the dark side.

The task of maintaining the engines and everything else aboard the Tornado fell to the two ships engineers, Pulsat Rad and Vanzyl who were magicians with all things mechanical.

Pulsat was Prinsloovian and was short and heavy set, with a rough bony skull which raised up like a crown which then receded to give way to a Mahogany scaled brow, cheekbones and jawline which framed an ivory coloured face, and yellow eyes.

His entire countenance betrayed his reptilian ancestry, and his fellow engineer, who was Kesslerian, also owed his origins to reptilian DNA but his slender and sleek form, scaly countenance, silver scaled skin, large opaque eyes, pursed lips, and gills, clearly indicated that his kind evolved from fish.

They loved maintaining the ship, in fact they loved the ship, but above all they loved their crew mates, who made them feel like family, and that was something neither of them had had for a very long time before they found the Tornado.

 

Pulsat was born on Prinsloo in the Rexenor system, a dry desert world, rich in minerals and ore, which he hadn’t seen for more than 20 years.

He was one of the lucky ones as his parents were able to arrange for him to get away from his home world before the Mehreen Empire conquered the planet and enslaved the Prinsloovian’s, putting them under the yoke in order to rape their own planet of all that was precious.

He had never returned and had no idea of what fate may have befallen his parents, he had met several of his own kind over the years, but none of them could enlighten him, as they were in the same boat as he was.

He was incredibly strong and found no difficulty in finding work among the many mining operations he came across as he worked his way steadily, from world to world and moon to moon, moving inexorably away from the Mehreen, it was on one of those worlds, Kordesh, that he met his friend Vanzyl.

Vanzyl was from Kessleria, the third planet in the Omeghard system, he was of slender stature and like Pulsat he owed his origins to reptilian DNA, but his kind evolved from fish.

He also left his home world because of the Mehreen but in Kessleria’s case they wanted the water, and in taking it they essentially brought genocide to the peaceful Kesslerian’s.

Vanzyl was more fortunate than Pulsat as he escaped from his home world with a large group of friends who supported and comforted each other, but over the years following their exodus, as they endured harsher and harsher conditions his friends perished one by one until he was finally left alone.

Subsequently his loneliness was keenly felt because his solitude was so extreme, and that was because he could only communicate in clicks, whirls and whistles which none, but his own kind could understand, until that is, Pulsat Rad arrived on Kordesh.

Pulsat could understand every tone and toot Vanzyl uttered, as if it were in his own tongue, but that was common place for his species, there were very few races he had met on his travels that he couldn’t understand, although he couldn’t speak back to them in their language, but he nonetheless understood every word that they spoke.

Vanzyl’s loneliness came to an end when he met his friend and after many years of solitude he could finally communicate with the outside world.

There were few things they loved in the universe more than working their magic on all things mechanical, but they loved the Tornado family and the children of the agrarian settlement of Montrose, who loved them back in equal measure.

And there was no shortage of love aboard the Tornado, Co-pilot Malena Endia and Navigator Shiyne had their lovers, Zerrad Skeet and Sciberran Healer Terrell Vorton, Zerrad’s brother Lyris had been tamed by the member of the Gouveian Royal family among their number, Asti Alegionaris.

Visitor Parham, who tended their spiritual needs, while his alter ego Bagg fortified them with his culinary prowess, had also found love in the form Wisma Berita, who had her own bar in Gipki, and last but by no means least, Captain Merionwen Strong and her love interest, Parse Sacrod, whom she called Beefy, a former Legionnaire of the Royal Guard of Gouveia.

They had also had more than their fair share of adventure since joining the crew, but they didn’t mind that one little bit, and they knew that with Merionwen in the Captains seat they were bound to have more adventure, and they didn’t mind that either.

 

While the Tornado worked the cluster they had many regular destinations working for Golbolt Interstellar but still had plenty of down time and they had a number of places, recreational bolt holes, so to speak, where they could find a friendly face and a warm welcome, for Bagg it would be Gipki and the loving arms of Wisma, but for Pulsat and Vanzyl their favourite would always be the agrarian settlement of Montrose on Eirkos where Bagg’s brother and his family lived, but on that trip they had a full complement aboard plus a few additions.

 

They had spent two days in Montrose entertaining the children of the settlement, Pulsat running and chasing them on dry land and Pulsat swimming with them in the lake.

But when it was time to leave they took some passengers with them, Bagg’s brother, Trebreh, his wife Xandra and her brother Ale, and the surprise inclusions of Duff Tarver and his wife Chani.

Duff more so than his wife, because in his former life, in which he was primarily a raconteur, his office was a bar or tavern, and his audience were his fellow patrons.

For years he had been a heavy drinker, and was rarely home and his long-suffering wife, Chani, had to bring up their three children virtually single handed.

But his outlook on life changed when he was almost beaten to death in reprisal to his dissemination of revealing evidence into the public domain regarding some very prominent and well-respected individuals and the criminal element and enterprises they were involved with or were protecting.

Following the assault on him it was decided that he and his family should go to the peaceful agrarian settlement on Eirkos called Montrose, where they were made welcome and kept safe.

While he was in protective custody he had time to think and re-evaluate and a strange thing happened, he fell in love with the place, the peace, the tranquility and its people, as did Chani, and their children blossomed before their eyes, and as a result of nearly losing his life he had finally found what he had been searching for all his life, even though he hadn’t known he was searching, so they never left, except to settle their affairs in Eikon Major’s Capital city, Rendon, and because he had also rekindled his faith in Montrose he also suggested going to Marikya.

 

Prior to the Tornado’s brief stop on Eirkos, to collect the Montrose party, they had already picked up Wisma Berita from Eikon Minor, so for the first time ever all the Tornado sleeping quarters were full, and the reason for carrying so many passengers was because they were headed towards the Visitor Festival on Marikya, one of the moons of Eirkos. 

The Tornado Sojourns (3) – Chapter 15 – End Game

Supreme Commander Emad Salmin and Captain Kolan Nulak were greeted on the ramp of the Tornado by Bagg and Merri and then were given the news that Duff had regained consciousness.

“That’s great news” Salmin said with relief but he was still shocked when they walked into the sickbay.

His wife Chani was sitting next to the bed and she stood up and kissed Bagg

“I’ll leave you to it, not too long though, he’s not out of the woods yet” she said then she smiled at the two high ranking Legionnaire’s.

After she’d gone Salmin sat in the chair she had vacated, and Nulak pulled up another one, while Merri and Bagg stood at the end of the bed.

“What have you been doing to yourself?” Salmin asked trying to put up a front, but Duff could see through it.

He couldn’t speak very clearly but he could be understood, and he told the story of what he had been doing and that the taxi had dropped him at the gate and he was enjoying the walk.

“Did you have a lot to drink?” Nulak asked.

“No more than usual, but no less than usual either” Duff replied.

“So I was feeling no pain, until they started hitting me”

He tried to laugh but grimaced instead.

“Did they say anything?” Salmin asked

“No, only when they first stopped me, one of them said, “In a hurry are we?” and I replied “I am as it happens” then he added

“Well that’s a real shame”, and then they started laying into me”

“What sort of age?” asked Nulak

“Late-twenties maybe a little older” he said and grimaced again.

“We’ll let you rest now” Bagg said and led the Legionnaire Officers towards the door but before they reached it Duff spoke again.

“I recognized one of the men”

Salmin and Nulak turned sharply, and then he added.

“But I can’t remember where”

And the two Legion Officers were visibly deflated by his confession.

“But it will come to me” Duff said and closed his eyes

 

Once outside Captain Nulak said

“They gave him a good going over”

And Supreme Commander Salmin nodded in response.

“But it could have just been a random act of violence”

“Is that what you think?” Salmin countered

“No, but we don’t have any evidence” Nulak pointed out and noticed that Bagg and Merri had joined them

“Do you think they left him for dead?” he asked and Salmin replied

“Yes I do”

“And do you think they might try again?” Bagg asked and both men nodded then Merri and Bagg looked at each other and said in unison

“Montrose” And the Legion officers looked bemused.

 

Bagg, Merri and the two officers made their way to the mess room and sat across the table from Chani, who took one look at them and said.

“They tried to kill him didn’t they?”

“We think so” Merri said

“And it might be a good idea if you Duff and the children didn’t go home for a while”

“Where should we go?” she asked pleadingly

“There is a peaceful agrarian settlement on Eirkos called Montrose where my brother and his family live, there and they will make you welcome” Bagg said

“I will station a Legion Aeronautica squadron at Cranack and two plain clothed Legionnaire’s will be in Montrose at all times” The Supreme Commander assured her and Chani went thoughtful and a few minutes later Bagg took hold of her hand

“Don’t worry, Duff’s as tough as old boots and the Legion, the Prefecture and the Tornado family will get the people responsible for hurting him” Bagg said “But for now speak to Duff Chani”

“Thank you Bagg” she said, kissed him and left the mess.

 

It was thirty minutes later when the door opened and Chani reappeared and Bagg turned around to look at her and he asked “What’s the decision then?”

“It took some persuasion, but we would love to take you up on your offer” she said

“Excellent” Bagg said and smiled for the first time for two days

 

Once Duff and his family were settled in Montrose the Tornado returned to the business of shifting freight around the Eikon Cluster and the Legion Supreme Commander and the Captain pressurized and focused on the assault on Duff Tarver and squeezed every source, inside and outside of the law for any lead no matter how tenuous to find the perpetrators of the assault.

But after a few weeks had passed, they had made no progress in finding his attackers, even though they suspected the motive.

But then Bagg received a message from Montrose to say that Duff wanted to speak to him. 

 

The Tornado landed at Cranack and Merri drove Bagg to Montrose in the Stroller where he found Duff waiting to talk to him.

“Duff” He said as he approached his friend and surveyed his appearance, most of his bruises had faded and his cuts had healed but he still looked less than rosy.

“I know I look rough” Duff said before they embraced

“But I have good news, I’ve remembered where I’d seen one my attackers”

“Where?” Bagg asked

“In the Blue Horizon” he replied “He was a customer in the bar”

“Would you recognize him again?” Merri asked

“Of course” he replied “And so will you”

“What?” Bagg asked

“You both saw him too” Duff insisted “He was the one that barged into me as we were leaving, the one you wanted to fight with Merri”

“Are you sure?” Merri asked

“Absolutely no question” Duff said

“Well if he was in the Blue Horizon we’ll definitely be able to see what he looks like and anyone who he might have been with” Merri said.

The Blue Horizon was owned by Lak Shmi and he had once made the mistake of opening the door to illegal gambling and almost lost his livelihood due to the associated criminality and needed the Tornado and the Legion to rid the bar of the crooks.

As a result of coming so close to losing the bar he had become paranoid and had video recordings of every part of the Blue Horizon.

Merri smiled at Bagg and opened her comms

“Merri calling Tornado”

“Tornado receiving Captain” Lyris responded

“I need you to go to the Blue Horizon and speak to Lak Shmi” she said and explained what she needed him to get.

 

In the mess room of the Tornado, later that day, the crew were joined by Supreme Commander Emad Salmin, Captain Kolan Nulak and Duff Tarver.

 

“There he is” Duff said triumphantly “He’s the one that did the talking and that other one was with him”

“So can you identify them from these images?” Bagg asked the Legionnaire’s

“I can identify them now” the Captain said “Brack Madly and Denk Harpenden”

“You know them?” Merri asked

“Yes they were formerly under my command” Nulak said “They were court martialed for their part in protecting Neff Abery’s shameful dealings and awaiting trial for conspiracy, along with two other men, they clearly blamed you for their downfall”

“Well they will now be charged with attempted murder” Salmin said “and in a day of two you and your family will be able to return home”   

 

In the days that followed, Brack Madly and his fellow conspirators were arrested, along with those who had aided and abeted in the attempted murder, and remained in custody until their trial.

With those who wanted to do him harm safely locked up Duff Tarver and his wife Chani and their Children were free to return to their former life on Eikon Major.

But a strange thing happened during his protective custody in Montrose, he fell in love with the peace, tranquility and its people, as did Chani and their children blossomed before their eyes, he had finally found what he had been searching for all his life, even though he hadn’t know he was searching, so they never left, except to settle their affairs in Eikon Major’s Capital city, Rendon, and later to the Visitor Festival on Marikya, one of the moons of Eirkos.

 

Life aboard the Tornado returned to normal in the wake of the arrest of the conspirators and they continued to ply their trade around the Eikon Cluster while taking time out for the occasional adventure. 

The Tornado Sojourns (3) – Chapter 14 – Healer

 

Sciberran Healer Terrell Vorton had spent five years working his way from moon to moon, planet to planet and system to system, on ships of every shape and size, in search of something, though he didn’t know what that something was, he just knew that it was not on his home planet of Sciberras in the Hennis system.

He was a small stout man standing 5 foot 5, and was quite striking in appearance with chalk white skin, short hair of midnight blue and hypnotic violet eyes.

He was a quiet studious man who apart from medicine, loved science, and had a fascination for off world travel, although it would have remained just that had it not been for the untimely deaths of his wife and child.

Their loss had been particularly acute because he was helpless to cure them despite his high regard as a Healer.  

On his world, Healers started their training at the age of 5, but it wasn’t for everyone, but those like Terrell who reached adulthood and remained in training were destined for a lifetime in medicine, but for him he was destined to be the cream of the crop.

But with the premature deaths of his wife and child he came to doubt his ability and that prompted him to leave his home world and try and regain belief in himself and since leaving Sciberras he had learned a lot about the anatomy of other species, who he hadn’t come in contact with before, because Sciberras was quite an insular world, but travelling off world had opened his eyes and he was left hungry for more.

But when he reached the moon Alwi and saw the beautiful Vann telepath, Shiyne, he knew that the next leg of his sojourn was to go wherever she went so he joined the crew of the Tornado and very quickly won the heart of the beautiful little cerise coloured Navigator.

 

He was just finishing up in the sick bay where he had been stitching a cut on Lyris Skeets hand, sustained in a fight with and ex Legionnaire, and looking forward to spending some quality time with Shiyne when there was a commotion outside so he opened the door and found a dripping wet Pulsat Rad carrying a bloodied body in his arms.

He couldn’t see who it was or the full extent of their injuries, but he calculated they must have been severe to get the Prinsloovian to go out in the rain.

“Bring him in Pulsat” Terrel instructed so he carried the casualty into sickbay and laid him on the nearest bed.

“Thank you Pulsat” he said “Have you told the Captain?”

“Now I get” he replied and then as he got a better look at the casualties face he added

“And fetch Bagg as well”

“I get, I get” Pulsat said and rushed off leaving Terrel to continue his examination.

 

Visitor Parham, not for the first time in his life, found himself standing outside of sickbay or equivalent awaiting news.

They were due to depart that morning but Merri had delayed it for twenty four hours, and it was still raining hard outside and was showing no sign of stopping.

 

As he waited he wasn’t wearing his more formal Visitor attire of a full length pale blue robe tied at the waist with a royal blue cord, beneath a full length dark blue leather jerkin, or carrying a simple roughhewn staff decorated with a carved cruciform relief a few inches from the top, instead he wore a simple oatmeal coloured robe tied at the waist with a simple cord, because he wasn’t, first and foremost there as a Visitor but as a friend, Bagg.

 

At some point, he wasn’t sure when, he was joined by the Captain. 

“How’s he doing?” Merri asked “Has he regained consciousness?”

“Not fully”

“Has he said anything at all?” Merri asked

“No” Bagg replied, and Merri thought for a second and asked.

“Is anyone with him?”

“Just Terrel, he’s changing his dressings” Bagg replied just as Malena walked towards them, she had driven into the city to collect Duff’s wife and family.

“Chani is in the mess, Pulsat and Vanzyl are entertaining the children” Malena said

“Thank you” Bagg replied and walked passed her and headed for the mess and as soon as Chani saw him she leapt up to greet him and then broke down in his arms.

 

Bagg found the time dragged very slowly, even baking couldn’t hold his attention and after burning the second batch of scones he gave up, so he walked to the nearest Visitor Church and prayed, there really wasn’t anything he could do aboard the Tornado for the time being, so he would return later that day unless there was a change.

 

The next morning, Supreme Commander Emad Salmin was feeling very pleased with himself following the successful capture of 90 percent of their target suspects after the earth shattering revelations, more than double of any other system, but it did help that he knew the shock wave was coming, as a result he was to be decorated and get another pip on his shoulder.

But his good humour was soon dispelled when he received a message from the Tornado to tell him that Duff Tarver had been severely beaten and was still unconscious.

His first reaction was to summon Captain Kolan Nulak and relay the news of the attack to him.

“What’s happened sir?”

“Duff Tarver, has been attacked” Salmin answered and “He’s been unconscious since it happened, have my Cutter readied, we’re going to Eikon Major, immediately”

“Immediately?” Nulak queried   

“Yes I blame myself, I should have foreseen this, and assigned him some protection, but I didn’t so I want to get there as soon as possible just in case”

“It’s that serious?” Nulak asked

“I’m afraid so” he replied

 

The “Cutter” as Salmin described it was actually a sleeker variant of a Blaze Command Ship, with a small crew of handpicked men, who had all served for Salmin before.  

On the journey Nulak asked.

“Was it a robbery?”

“No, nothing was taken”

“Were they interrupted?”

“No, they had plenty of time to strip his body of everything, the taxi dropped him at the Space Port gate and he was found forty-five minutes later” Salmin replied

“So he was beaten up for no reason?” Nulak asked in disbelief

“That’s what I intend to find out” Salmin said as the Cutter set down on the Apron next to the Tornado.